Risk Mitigation is as important as situational awareness. I don't go into bad neighborhoods or high crime areas. I don't get drunk at downtown bars at night and then stagger around looking for my car (dangerous on two fronts), yet many of our young people do similar or even riskier activities.

Some years ago, a friend and his fiancee attended a concert at a music hall in a major city. Rather than pay the $10 parking fee in a supervised parking deck, they decided to save the money and park for free about 8 blocks from the event center. After the concert, as they walked back to their car, they were attacked and beaten very badly. No robbery took place. An investigating police officer told them later that the assault was part of a gang initiation and that there have been quite a few similar incidents. In recent years these types of attacks have acquired a name "Knockout Kings." Afterward, the young couple each admitted that they had uneasy feelings about parking far away, but both of them buried or ignored those instincts, nor mentioned those concerns to each other that night.

Situational awareness is equally important but unfortunately too many of us "civilized" people ignore our gut instincts and pretend that danger signals are not real. If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. Don't ignore what your "gut" is telling you.